Ring out ye crystal spheres!
Once bless our human ears,
If ye have power to touch our read more

Ring out ye crystal spheres!
Once bless our human ears,
If ye have power to touch our senses so;
And let your silver chime
Move in melodious time,
And let the bass of Heaven's deep organ blow;
And with your ninefold harmony
Make up full consort to the angelic symphony.

Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace;
East, west, north, and south let the long quarrel cease;
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Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace;
East, west, north, and south let the long quarrel cease;
Sing the song of great joy that the angels began,
Sing the glory to God and of good-will to man!

My Christmas present to myself each year is to see how much air travel can open up the world and read more

My Christmas present to myself each year is to see how much air travel can open up the world and take me to places as far from sheltered California and Japan as possible.

Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip.

Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip.

The mistletoe hung in the castle hall,
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall.

The mistletoe hung in the castle hall,
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall.

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. read more

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the read more

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

Christmas is the Disneyfication of Christianity

Christmas is the Disneyfication of Christianity

'Twas the night before Christman, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,--not even a mouse:
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'Twas the night before Christman, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,--not even a mouse:
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.